A New Order In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, going to a game won't be the same

At last January's Super Bowl, Tampa police employed a newcriminal-catching technique. With cameras mounted near entrancesto Raymond James Stadium, the authorities took a digital imageof every fan as he entered and compared the image with those of1,700 known criminals, from common thieves to terrorists, in adatabase assembled from state and federal police files. ACLUlawyers called the procedure an unlawful invasion of privacy andhave called for congressional hearings on the use of suchtechnology.

Sitting in his office in Tampa last week after the terroristattacks in New York City and Washington, police major K.C.Newcomb, who gave the go-ahead to the Super Bowlfacial-recognition project, recalled the ACLU's criticism. "Wetook a lot of heat," says Newcomb, "but now it looks as if it'ssomething we should have in every stadium and arena in America."

Facial-recognition systems are one of several ideas beingdiscussed that would alter security arrangements at sportsvenues. Major League Baseball and the NFL announced changesfollowing the attacks, including restrictions on what fans canbring into stadiums (baseball has banned coolers, backpacks andlarge bags, and some NFL teams have taken similar measures), anincreased police presence and closer inspection of fans as theyenter. (Be prepared for a search of any bag you bring to agame.) Security experts, however, view those as short-termsolutions. "Historically, sporting events haven't beenconsidered targets," says Robert McCrie, a criminal justiceprofessor at John Jay College in New York City and an expert onpublic security who has consulted on the operations of severalpro teams and venues, including the Yankees and Madison SquareGarden. "Now they have to be seen that way, and that changes howwe look at security." McCrie and other experts offer suggestionsfor how teams and venues might bolster public safety.

--I.D. cards for season-ticket holders, permitting them to entervenues through a separate gate. Single-game ticket buyers,considered more of a threat because of their anonymity, would besearched and wanded for weapons and explosives.

--Seven-day-a-week control of access. Many college stadiums areopen to students and tourists when events aren't held, and somepro venues offer tours amid a constant flow of maintenanceworkers, deliverymen and cleanup crews. "People should berequired to have credentials to be in the stadium, even if it'snot the day of a game," says Jim Muldoon, assistant commissionerof the Pacific-10. Bomb-detecting dogs would be used in nightlysweeps of all large venues.

--Restricted air space during events. "Anyone who has seen theMinneapolis skyline knows the Metrodome is the most invitingtarget," says Bill Lester, who manages the home of the Twins,the Vikings and the University of Minnesota football team, andis president of the Stadium Managers Association. "I would befor restricting flights."

--More law-enforcement officers, fewer private guards. "Toooften security is left to those not trained to do the job," saysBill Rathburn, a former deputy chief of the Los Angeles PoliceDepartment who headed security for the Atlanta Olympics and isnow a consultant. "Law enforcement needs to be more involved inthe planning and execution of security at sports events. It'snot good enough for the police to say it's a private event thatcollects money, so it's not our problem. Security should beviewed as a public service."

Teams and site managers have long debated the viability of havingevery fan pass through a metal detector. During the gulf war in1991, Tampa police tried to do that at the Super Bowl, "but werealized people were going to miss kickoff so we had to stop,"Newcomb says. Before last week most teams considered such a stepunnecessary. Future stadiums and arenas, however, could havedetectors built into the structure, expediting the process.

Other security ideas address arena workers. The developers of LosAngeles's Staples Center, site of the 2000 Democratic Convention,consulted the Secret Service and other experts while puttingtogether building plans, and the arena's access system isconsidered one of the best of its kind. Some Staples workers mustpass through two checkpoints, one of which is linked to acomputer that won't allow a staffer to enter if he's more than 30minutes early.

As for the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, organizers say they are"adjusting" the security plan for next February's Games. Amongthe options being discussed are to arm the National Guardsmen whowill augment an estimated force of 3,000 federal and 1,750 statelaw-enforcement officers, and to have Air Force jets patrol theskies over Utah. It's a response to what experts consider anideological shift in the threat to the Games. "In the aftermathof Munich we saw vulnerability as relating to your nationalidentity," says Rathburn, who headed the L.A.P.D.'s securityeffort for the 1984 Games, "but now we have to look beyondnational identity. Now, everyone is a target."

--George Dohrmann

COLOR PHOTO: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP HIGH ALERT A military presence may be more common at sports venues.

"Historically, sporting events haven't been considered targets.Now they have to be seen that way."

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything